1) Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for remote sensing image collection, and more particularly, to automated dynamic image masking systems and methods for remote sensing image collection, such as aerial remote sensing image collection.
2) Description of Related Art
Remote sensing, such as aerial remote sensing, involves the use of sensor and imaging technologies, such as radar imaging systems, camera imaging systems, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems, and other sensor and imaging systems, to obtain images of the ground and earth's surface and remote objects. Analog aerial photography, videography, and digital photography are commonly used in airborne remote sensing to collect images. Digital photography allows for real time transmission of the remotely sensed data to a ground or base station for immediate analysis, and the digital images may be analyzed and interpreted with the aid of a computer.
However, aerial remote sensing imagery collection may be tedious, and if the imaging system is not correctly oriented when an image capture event occurs, a large amount of minimally useful information may be produced as a result. For precision agricultural (PA) based aerial remote sensing missions that may collect images of agricultural fields and crops to determine plant health and vigor, an operator has to be able to handle large areas of land, a unique and well-known distribution of image collection sites, a well-defined flight profile in terms of range, time of flight, altitude, position, and speed, and distinct areas of image exclusion, the latter of which may hinder precision agricultural (PA) based aerial remote sensing operations substantially if not accounted for.
For example, when flying a precision agriculture based aerial remote sensing mission, an air vehicle, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), may have ingress to a first farm by flying over other populated areas. It may be undesirable to commence imaging until in position over the first farm, so it is desirable for an autopilot of the UAV and the imaging system to be integrated and to allow for autonomous operations.
Known systems and methods for aerial remote sensing imagery collection may include flying under piloted control with the pilot located in the local field with a view of the entire acreage, and may thus not allow for autonomous operations, which may be preferred for a precision agricultural market. Moreover, without well defined collect zones, there may be too much land or area to image and the amount of collected image data may overwhelm the sensor and imaging system. Further, data may be inadvertently imaged and collected that is restricted or out of bounds and not in a defined collect zone.
In addition, known systems and methods for aerial remote sensing imagery collection may include manual operation shutter control that may be pre-programmed (every n seconds) or operator triggered. However, with such manual operation used with the precision agricultural market, one may need to ingress to a particular field that is designated to be imaged. This option may require flying beyond a line of sight to arrive at the proper destination, and particularly when flying at low altitudes, less than 400 feet above ground level. However, such option may be labor intensive, expensive, and may not yield the desired results to address the precision agricultural market.
Another option may be to have a live link from the imaging camera system to the ground controller (pilot and ground control station operator) that provides a bird's-eye view of the area. This may be used to alert the operators when it is time to maneuver and when it is time to take a photograph. However, this option may also be labor intensive and may not satisfy all the requirements for a precision agricultural mission.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved system and method for a dynamic image masking system for providing filtered autonomous remote sensing image through a dynamic image masking process and for providing a way to mask or alter pixels that are unwanted or extraneous to an image collection event or mission, such as a precision agricultural mission, that provide advantages over known systems and methods.